Creative Planning Has $1.39 Million Position in Southwest Gas Corporation $SWX

Creative Planning increased its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX) by 37.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 18,719 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,132 shares during the period. Creative Planning’s holdings in Southwest Gas were worth $1,393,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SWX. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Gas during the second quarter worth $422,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in Southwest Gas by 1,015.2% during the 2nd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 5,152 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $383,000 after purchasing an additional 4,690 shares during the last quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. acquired a new position in Southwest Gas during the 2nd quarter worth about $779,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 763,318 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $56,783,000 after buying an additional 14,875 shares during the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE increased its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 8.0% in the second quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 10,494 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $781,000 after buying an additional 779 shares during the period. 92.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on SWX shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southwest Gas in a research note on Tuesday. Mizuho started coverage on shares of Southwest Gas in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $91.00 price target for the company. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Southwest Gas from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Southwest Gas from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $76.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Friday, August 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Southwest Gas from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southwest Gas currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $84.50.

Insider Activity at Southwest Gas

In related news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn sold 1,500,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.91, for a total value of $116,865,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 6,032,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $470,000,177.64. The trade was a 19.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Southwest Gas Price Performance

Southwest Gas stock opened at $83.05 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.99, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.57. Southwest Gas Corporation has a 52-week low of $64.69 and a 52-week high of $83.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.01. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $79.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $77.05.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $316.91 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.08 billion. Southwest Gas had a net margin of 4.06% and a return on equity of 6.98%. The firm’s revenue was down 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.09 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Southwest Gas Corporation will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Gas Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be paid a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Southwest Gas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.63%.

Southwest Gas Profile

Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc, through its subsidiaries, distributes and transports natural gas in Arizona, Nevada, and California. The company operates through Natural Gas Distribution, Utility Infrastructure Services, and Pipeline and Storage segments. It also provides trenching, installation, and replacement of underground pipes, as well as maintenance services for energy distribution systems.